Will Shortz

Put On Your Thinking Hat

Will Shortz — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:28:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with H-A and the second word starts with T.

Last week's challenge: From listener Al Gori of Cozy Lake, N.J. Name a famous American man — first and last names. Change the first letter of his first name from T to H. The result will sound like a term for an attractive person.

Take Your Pics

Will Shortz — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 07:29:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with the letters P-I and the second word starts with C. For example, given "One of 27 compositions by Mozart" you would say "(Pi)ano (C)oncerto."

Last week's challenge: Think of two familiar three-word sayings in which all three words are the same length. The middle word in both sayings is the same. In each saying, the first and last words rhyme with each other.

From A To Z

Will Shortz — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 05:33:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a word containing an A and a Z. Given anagrams of the remaining letters, name the word. For example, given "leg," the answer would be "glaze".

Last week's challenge: Eight people are seated at a circular table. Each person gets up and sits down again — either in the same chair or in the chair immediately to the left or right of the one they were in.

Rolling R's Into Wise Words

Will Shortz — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:29:00 +0000

On-air challenge: You will be given some words starting with the letter R. You name a proverb or saying that contains each one.

Last week's challenge from listener Gary Alvstad of Tustin, Calif.: Name a well-known movie in two words with a total of 13 letters. Each of the two words contains the letter C. Drop both C's. The letters that remain in the second word of the title will be in alphabetical order, and the letters that remain in the first word will be in reverse alphabetical order.

Dear Mr. President, What's Your Name?

Will Shortz — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:36:00 +0000

On-air challenge: In honor of Presidents Day, every answer is the last name of a U.S. president. You will be given a word or phrase that is a president's last name with two letters changed. You name the president. For example, given "Carpet," the answer would be "Carter."

Last week's challenge: Take the last name of a former president of a foreign country, someone well-known. Change the last letter of this name to an O and rearrange the result. You'll get the last name of someone who wanted to be president of the United States.

The Answer Lies Within

Will Shortz — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 05:08:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a three-letter word that ends a familiar two-word phrase. You will be given the first word of the phrase. You provide the three-letter word that ends it. And the three letters in your answer will always be found, in some order, inside the first word. For example, given "Arctic," you would say "Air."

Last week's challenge from listeners Mike Morton of Lyme, N.H., and Barry Hayes of Palo Alto, Calif.: Name a famous author, first and last names. Change an X in this name to a B, and rearrange all the letters.

Tackle 'Yards' To Make A Touchdown

Will Shortz — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 09:27:00 +0000

On-air challenge: In recognition of the Super Bowl, the key word is "yards." You will be given some categories. For each one, name something in the category beginning with each of the letters Y, A, R, D and S. For example, if the category were "Girls' Names," you might say Yvonne, Alice, Rachel, Donna and Sally.

Last week's challenge from listener Jed Martinez of Margate, Fla.: Name a personal mode of transportation. Remove its first and sixth letters.

Two Is Company, Three Is A Crowd

Will Shortz — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Given three three-letter words, give a three-letter word that can follow each to complete a familiar six-letter word. None of the words in a set will be related in meaning. For example, given "dam," "man" and "sew," the answer would be "age," which results in "damage," "manage" and "sewage."

Last week's challenge from Sam Loyd: This challenge appeared in a puzzle column in the Woman's Home Companion in January 1913.

Unwrap 'Christmas' For Your Gift

Will Shortz — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:55:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a word that can be formed from the letters of "Christmas." You'll be given two words as clues. The first one can precede the answer word, and the second one can follow it — in each case to complete a compound word or familiar two-word phrase. For example, given "forward" and "madness," the answer would be "march" (as in "forward march" and "March Madness").

Last week's challenge from listener Henri Picciotto of Berkeley, Calif.: Name a two-word geographical location. Remove the first letter.

Quick! Sneak In That 'QU'

Will Shortz — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 09:56:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a six-letter word containing "QU" somewhere inside it. You'll be given anagrams of the remaining four letters. You name the words (No answer is a plural or a word formed by adding "s.").

Last week's challenge from listener Adam Cohen of Brooklyn, N.Y.: Name two articles of apparel — things you wear — which, when the words are used as verbs, are synonyms of each other.

Untangle An 'Act Of God'

Will Shortz — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:53:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar three-word phrase in the form "____ of ____." The letters in the first and last words of each phrase are rearranged. You give the phrases. For example, "Cat of Dog" becomes "Act of God."

Last week's challenge from listener Henry Hook of Brooklyn, N.Y.: In a few weeks something will happen that hasn't happened since 1987.

Being Initially Famous

Will Shortz — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 05:03:00 +0000

Special Note: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the deadline for this week's puzzle is Wednesday by 3 p.m. Eastern.

On-air challenge: Each clue is a two- or three-word description of a famous person in which the initial letters of the description are also the initials of the person. For example, given the clue "Motown great," the answer would be Marvin Gaye.

Last week's challenge: With one stroke of a pencil you can change a capital F into E; you can change an O into a Q, and so on.

Saluting The Flag

Will Shortz — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:33:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Sunday is Veterans Day, so we have a game of categories based on flags. Given some categories, for each one name something in the category beginning with each of the letters F, L, A, G and S.

For example, if the category were chemical elements, you might say fluorine, lead, argon, gold and sulfur.

Last week's challenge from longtime listener Merl Reagle: The words "organic" and "natural" are both commonly seen at health food stores.

What's In A Name?

Will Shortz — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer today consists of the names of two famous people. The last name of the first person is an anagram of the first name of the last person. Given the nonanagram parts of the names, you identify the people.

Example: Madeleine ________ Aaron.

Answer: Madeleine KAHN and HANK Aaron

Last week's challenge: Think of a word associated with Halloween. Add a letter in the second position to create a new word that does not rhyme with the first.

Answer Me These Words Three

Will Shortz — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 09:50:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a three-word phrase, in which each word has four letters. All three words end in the same three letters, and they rhyme.

'Poked' And 'Tummy' Become 'Poker' And 'Rummy'

Will Shortz — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 05:59:00 +0000

On-air challenge: You will be given two words. Change one letter in each of them to make two new words that name things that are in the same category. (Hint: In each pair, the letter that you change to — that is, the new letter — is the same in each pair.) For example, given the words "poked" and "tummy," the answer would be "poker" and "rummy."

Last week's challenge: What specific and very unusual property do these five words have in common: school, half, cupboard, Wednesday and friend? Identify the property and name a sixth word that shares the property.

Where, 'O' Where Shall I Put You?

Will Shortz — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 08:32:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a two-word phrase in which the letter "O" is added at the end of the first word to make the second word. For example, given the clue "pack animal owned by Thomas Jefferson's first vice president," the answer would be "Burr burro."

Last week's challenge: Draw a regular hexagon and connect every pair of vertices except one. The pair you don't connect are not on opposite sides of the hexagon but along a shorter diagonal.

Frog Stuck In Your C-R-O-A-T?

Will Shortz — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 02:45:00 +0000

On-air challenge: You'll be given a category, and you name something in the category starting with each of the letters in the word "Croat." For example, if the category were "boy's names," you might say Chris, Roger, Otto, Adam and Terry.

Last week's challenge: Think of a word in which the second letter is R. Change the R to an M, and rearrange the result. You'll get the opposite of the original word. What is it?

Finding Consecutively Good TV Shows

Will Shortz — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is the name of a TV show, past or present. Each can be found in consecutive letters in the sentences read. Name the TV shows. For example, in the sentence, "We watched the acrobat many times," the hidden TV show is BATMAN. Hint: Each answer has at least six letters.

Last week's challenge from listener Ed Pegg Jr.: Think of something that the majority of adults buy. It's a two-word phrase with 10 letters in the first word and nine in the second. This phrase uses each of the five vowels (A, E, I, O and U) exactly twice.

Missing In Action

Will Shortz — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar phrase in the form of "___ and ___." You'll be given the two missing words, each with a letter removed, and you give the phrases. For example, given "lot and fund," the answer would be "lost and found."

Last week's challenge from listener Erica Avery of Wisconsin: Name a world capital whose letters can be rearranged to spell a popular and much-advertised drug.

Drawing A Blank (Or Two)

Will Shortz — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: You are given sentences with two blanks. Put a word starting with R in the first blank. Then move that R to the end to make a new word that goes in the second blank to complete the sentence. For example, given the sentence, "The door of the Indian ___ was left slightly ___," the answers would be "raja" and "ajar."

Last week's challenge: It's an anagram word ladder.

What Hat Holds The Answer?

Will Shortz — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a two-word phrase in which one of the words starts with W and the other word is the same with the W removed. For example, if you were given the clue "desires scurrying insects," the answer would be "wants ants."

Last week's challenge, from listener Ken Rudy of Millwood, Wash.: Name the winning play in a certain sport: two words, five letters in each word. These two words share exactly one letter. Drop this letter from both words.

Shuffle The Anagram, K?

Will Shortz — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 07:15:00 +0000

On-air challenge: This week's puzzle is called "Anagram K-pers." Every answer is a familiar word starting with the letter "K." You identify the words from their anagrams. For example, K + vane will make "knave."

Last week's challenge: Name two insects. Read the names one after the other. Insert an "H" somewhere in this string of letters, and you'll complete a familiar word that is the opposite of what either of these insects is.

In The End, There Will Be Chemistry

Will Shortz — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 04:54:00 +0000

On-air challenge: You are given the ends of the names of three things that are all in the same category. You name the category. For example, "fur," "dine" and "sten" are all ends of chemical elements (sulfur, iodine, tungsten).

Last week's challenge, from listener Annie Haggenmiller of Chimacum, Wash.: Take the name of a well-known U.S. city in four syllables. The first and last syllables together name a musical instrument, and the two interior syllables name a religious official.

Name That (Former) Olympic Sport

Will Shortz — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is the name of a former Olympic sport. Given an anagram, you name the sport. For example, "flog" becomes "golf."

Last week's challenge: Name a sport in two words — nine letters in the first word, six letters in the last — in which all six vowels (A, E, I, O, U and Y) are used once each.

This Puzzle Is One For The PROs

Will Shortz — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with "P" and the second word starts with "RO." For example: For the clue, "A moving part of an automobile engine," the answer would be a "piston rod."

Last week's challenge from listener David Rosen, a member of the National Puzzlers' League: The name of something that you might see your doctor about is a two-word phrase. Three letters in each word.

Following The Trail

Will Shortz — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-Air Challenge: For each category, name something in the category starting with each of the letters in the word "trail." For example, if the category were "books of the Bible," you might say Timothy, Ruth, Amos, Isaiah and Leviticus.

Any answer that works is correct. And you can give the answers in any order.

Last week's challenge from listener Steve Baggish of Littleton, Mass.: Think of a well-known actor, three letters in the first name, seven letters in the last.

If You Want In The Mix, You've Got To Split The Six

Will Shortz — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-Air Challenge: For each six-letter word given, rearrange the letters to make two three-letter words that rhyme. Example: For the word "tweets," the pair of rhyming three-letter words would be "wet" and "set."

Last Week's Challenge From Listener Fred Orelove Of Richmond, Va.: Think of a well-known retail store chain in two words. Remove one letter from its name. The remaining letters, in order, will spell three consecutive words that are synonyms of each other. What are they?

Mixing It Up On The Baseball Diamond

Will Shortz — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-Air Challenge: Every answer is the name of a Major League Baseball team. You are given anagrams of their names, each with one letter added, and must name the teams. For example, given "dress," the answer would be "Reds."

Last Week's Challenge: Think of a familiar three-word phrase that might be used in poker and add an "E" at the end and you'll get a two-word phrase that's common in football.

Finding The Common Thread

Will Shortz — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:03:00 +0000

On-Air Challenge: You are given three words starting with the letter "F." The answer is a word that can follow each of those three words to complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, if given "flag, father's and field," the answer would be "day."

Last Week's Challenge From listener Kate MacDonald of Murphys, Calif.: Think of a common French word that everyone knows. Add a "V" to the beginning and an "E" at the end. The result will be the English-language equivalent of the French word.